ANZ approved to sell 9.6% shareholding in Vietnam’s Sacombank
ANZ today announced that it has received approval to sell its 9.6% stake in Vietnam’s Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (“Sacombank”) to Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (“Eximbank”).
ANZ CEO Asia Pacific Europe and America Alex Thursby said: “We established our relationship with Sacombank in 2005. The partnership has created benefits for both parties over the past six years however our ANZ business in Vietnam is now significantly larger following local incorporation in 2008 and the purchase of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s institutional business in Vietnam in 2009.
“Recently, we have also extended our ANZ ATM network, opened a 24/7 call centre and launched internet banking for our Vietnamese customers. With our ten outlets, this means we now offer a full range of services covering personal banking, small-to-medium sized business as well as corporate and institutional banking in Vietnam.
“Given this, it makes sense to give greater focus to the growth of our ANZ-owned business in Vietnam and to sell our stake in Sacombank,” Mr Thursby said.
The sale of ANZ’s 9.6% shareholding in Sacombank is expected to be complete by early January 2012. The transaction is not material to ANZ and the sale terms are confidential.